Spending associated with Savannah Tech has a nearly $57 million impact in its region

UGA economist: technical colleges are ‘an enduring pillar’ of state’s regional economy

Savannah, GA – In fiscal year 2012, Savannah Technical College had an economic impact on its four-county service area of nearly $57 million with spending directly or indirectly related to the college, according to a new study released by the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, conducted his analysis of economic data from the Technical College System of Georgia for FY2012 (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012).

The study also found that the college’s spending results in 707 public and private sector jobs. Humphreys reported that statewide, for each job created on a TCSG college campus, one off-campus job exists because of college-related expenditures.  One in every 264 non-farm jobs in Georgia, he said, occurs because of spending associated with a TCSG college.

“The fundamental finding is that each of the TCSG colleges, including Savannah Technical College, creates substantial economic impacts in terms of output, value-added, labor income, and employment. These economic impacts demonstrate that continued emphasis on technical colleges as an enduring pillar of the regional economy translates into jobs, higher incomes, and greater production of goods and services for local households and businesses,” said Humphreys.

The TCSG commissioned Humphreys to calculate the importance that spending connected to the state’s technical colleges has for their service delivery areas, which range in size from two to eleven counties.  Savannah Technical College serves Bryan, Chatham, Effingham and Liberty Counties. Several categories of college expenditures were reviewed for the study, including personnel salaries and fringe benefits, college operations, capital construction projects, and student spending, to name a few.

The result, put in the context of the taxpayer investment, indicated that the $10,743,586 state appropriation for Savannah Technical College in FY2012 supported the enrollment of 7,401 students, generated $56,935,335 in local spending, and helped to sustain almost 707 college-related jobs.

Statewide, the $315 million state appropriation for the TCSG in FY2012 helped to train almost 153,000 technical college students, contributed to $1.2 billion in direct and indirect spending in communities throughout Georgia, and was a factor in almost 15,000 public and private sector jobs.

“The spending factor alone is a sizable return on the state’s investment in the TCSG, and it would be significantly higher if we were to add the economic value that our graduates create once they leave college and meet employers’ needs for a skilled workforce,” said Ron Jackson, commissioner of the TCSG.

The study did not attempt to measure the value in terms of the increased earnings of TCSG graduates or the colleges’ role in helping the state to attract and retain companies with high-skill, good-paying jobs.  Nor did it calculate the impact of the TCSG’s Quick Start program, a state economic development incentive that provides customized training free of charge to new and expanding businesses.

The full report, The Economic Impact of Technical College System of Georgia Institutions on their Service Delivery Area Economies in FY 2012, is available online at https://tcsg.edu/download/TCSG_Impact_2012_Economic_Activity_1.2014.pdf

The following is a list of the 24 TCSG colleges and their economic and employment impact on their service delivery areas in 2012.  For a map of the colleges’ service delivery areas go to https://tcsg.edu/tech_map.php

TCSG College	Economic  Impact of  FY2012  Spending	Employment Impact of FY2012 Spending (College-Related Jobs)
Albany Technical College	$47,378,544	552
Altamaha Technical College	$20,410,617	274
Athens Technical College	$46,716,956	608
Atlanta Technical College	$63,965,060	692
Augusta Technical College	$54,380,987	699
Central Georgia Technical College *	$64,673,414	873
Chattahoochee Technical College	$104,722,504	1,288
Columbus Technical College	$38,156,614	479
Georgia Northwestern Technical College	$68,963,126	886
Georgia Piedmont Technical College	$59,595,578	773
Gwinnett Technical College	$71,377,444	768
Lanier Technical College	$40,741,923	515
Middle Georgia Technical College *	$30,906,755	412
Moultrie Technical College	$26,095,668	371
North Georgia Technical College	$35,266,872	452
Oconee Fall Line Technical College	$30,382,428	442
Ogeechee Technical College	$29,515,195	393
Okefenokee Technical College	$17,807,595	233
Savannah Technical College	$56,935,335	707
South Georgia Technical College	$27,530,288	366
Southeastern Technical College	$30,469,358	402
Southern Crescent Technical College	$71,997,872	881
Southwest Georgia Technical College	$21,371,303	265
West Georgia Technical College	$65,357,646	911
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College	$55,199,383	757
TCSG System Total	$1,179,918,464	14,997
*colleges merged as the new Central Georgia Technical College in July 2013

About the TCSG: The 24 colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia offer affordable education and excellent training in more than 600 certificate, diploma and two-year associate degree programs. Students of all ages take advantage of low tuition, outstanding instructors, hands-on learning and state-of-the-art equipment to gain the skills needed for today’s in-demand jobs. In 2013, the TCSG colleges delivered 2.4 million credit hours of instruction to more than 151,000 students. The TCSG is online, too, serving 72,000 students through the system’s Georgia Virtual Technical Connection.

TCSG students enjoy the benefits of Georgia’s HOPE grant and scholarship and the federal Pell grant which can pay for a significant portion of a TCSG education.

The TCSG Office of Adult Education delivered programs to 71,000 adult learners in 2013, including GED preparation and testing services that enabled almost 16,000 men and women to earn their GED credential.

The TCSG Quick Start program provided customized workforce training to almost 58,000 employees of new and expanding companies in Georgia.

For more information about the TCSG and links to the 24 TCSG colleges, go to www.tcsg.edu

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#1434 | March 6, 2014

  Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu